More on Orbach

Sheila has more on the late Jerry Orbach.

I grew up listening to him on the soundtrack for The Fantasticks and also the soundtrack for 42nd Street - You may not know what a great singer he was. And please - who can forget his chilling turn as the criminal brother of Martin Landau in Woody Allen's brilliant Crimes and Misdemeanors? Apparently, someone else was supposed to play that part...and this person backed out at the last minute. Woody Allen put in a call to Jerry Orbach, and Orbach filmed his scenes in that movie on only 3 days notice. If you ever see that movie again, WATCH Jerry Orbach. And think of the fact that he only had 3 days to create that character, learn the lines. He's fantastic.

I had a spectacularly irritating co-worker about eight years ago who introduced me to Orbach's long history in Broadway musicals. He was by all accounts the consummate journeyman character actor, a class of people who don't get nearly their due in the world of entertainment.

Posted by Mitch at December 29, 2004 12:22 PM | TrackBack